Island of the Lizard King (book)
Island of the Lizard King is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Alan Langford and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 7th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031743-0) and 17th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-491-7). Creation Background Like much of the Fighting Fantasy series, Island of the Lizard King is set in the fictional world of Titan; this particular adventure takes place on the continent of Allansia. The player's character begins the story by travelling from the populous city of Fang to the quiet coastal village of Oyster Bay, only to discover that the village is regularly being attacked by the Lizard Men of Fire Island, and that young men are being carried off to serve as slaves in their gold mines. The game proper beings with the player setting sail for Fire Island, intent on righting the situation. Like many other Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy books, such as Deathtrap Dungeon and Temple of Terror, Island of the Lizard King has multiple paths which lead to the final confrontation, although the overall journey is fairly linear. This linear design, combined with the fact that there are a bare minimum of essential items to collect, means that any path can lead to a successful quest. However, some paths and items can make the adventure much more easy or difficult. Despite a distinct lack of "sudden death" sections in the book, several bruising encounters can make this a difficult quest to complete, even with a skill of 11 or more. This book is notable for the massive battle between the freed slaves and Lizard Men which takes place, one of the few large scale battles depicted in a Fighting Fantasy gamebook. How to Fight the Creatures of Fire Island/Equipment and Potions/Hints on Play The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. (see Game System) Equipment List *Sword *Leather Armour *Backpack *10 Provisions *Choice of one of three Potions (see Game System for generic fantasy setting choices) Cover and Illustrations '''Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Iain McCaig. When the book was republished by Wizard a new cover was designed and illustrated by Martin McKenna that in many ways reflects the original cover of the Puffin Books publication. Island of the Lizard King was the final Fighting Fantasy book to be produced using the Coloured Number Format layout when originally published by Puffin. The "Special Limited Edition" of the Wizard version used gold embossing as opposed to the usual silver. #Price of 1st~3rd Impressions #Price of 6th Impression #Price of 10th Impression #Price of 12th Impression #Price of 13th Impression Illustrations The interior illustrations, including the black and white map accompanying paragraph 149, were by Alan Langford. There were 32 full page illustrations and 5 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 14, 30, 39, 48, 59, 71, 82, 101, 116, 128, 139, 149, 158, 168, 195, 211, 223, 235, 249, 254, 268, 279, 291, 305, 317, 325, 337, 350, 360, 379 and 390. Intertextual References Prequels The third and final book in a loose trilogy that follows an adventurer from Port Blacksand (City of Thieves) to Fang (Deathtrap Dungeon) and finally on to Oyster Bay. Other Media Main Characters YOU: Hero of City of Thieves *Lizard King - Lizard Man *Mungo *Old Thief - Thief *Sama *Shaman - Pygmy Locations *Fang *Fire Island *Fire Island Prison Colony *Oyster Bay *Port Blacksand Encounters *Bear *Black Lion *Cave Woman *Crocodile *Cyclops *Giant Crab *Giant Dragonfly *Giant Lizard *Giant Wasp *Giant Water-Snake *Goblin *Grannits *Headhunters - Chief/Pygmy/Regular *Hill Troll *Hobgoblin *Humans - Delirious Prisoner/Pirates/Pirate Captain *Hydra *Lizard Men - King/Mutant/Regular/Two-Headed *Ogre *Orc - Guard *Razorjaw *Sabre-Toothed Tiger *Shape Changer *Slime Sucker *Spit Toad *Styracosaurus Further Notes *10 instant failures, 1 victory, plus death by stamina loss or bad Luck. Dedication For Roy Coleman See Also *''Armies of Death'' *''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' (Mini-FF) *''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' *''City of Thieves'' *''Crypt of the Sorcerer'' *''Deathtrap Dungeon'' *''Dicing with Dragons'' *''Eye of the Dragon'' (Mini-FF) *''Eye of the Dragon'' *''Fighting Fantasy'' *''Freeway Fighter'' *''Legend of Zagor'' *''Return to Firetop Mountain'' *''Temple of Terror'' *''The Forest of Doom'' *''Trial of Champions'' *''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' External Links *Character Sheet *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11 Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org] *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=44 Island of the Lizard King at Gamebooks.org] *[http://web.archive.org/web/20051127132124/www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb7.htm Island of the Lizard King at the Internet Archive record of the old Fightingfantasy.com] *[http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/ff17.htm Island of the Lizard King on the official Fightingfantasygamebooks.com] *[http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/wizard/wbook.cfm?isbn=1-84046-491-7 Island of the Lizard King at Wizard Books] References *''White Dwarf'' (#53, May 1984) "Open Box" (p16-17) Category:1984 books Category:FF07 Entries Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series Category:Fighting Fantasy Wizard Series